Re-election juices Obama's approval ratings

Dec. 7, 2012
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President Obama / Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

A month after re-election, President Obama continues to enjoy some of the highest approval ratings of his tenure.

A new Associated Press-GfK gives the president a job approval rating of 57%, his highest mark since the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May of 2011; it's also up 5 points since before his Nov. 6 election victory over Mitt Romney.

"Nothing like winning an election to boost your job approval," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Added Brown: "This is only the second time in more than three years that President Obama has broken 50%. And voters see Republicans as more likely to be obstructionist, and have less confidence in their ability to come up with the right solution to the nation's financial woes."